District Woman Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
For 2011 Attack at Northwest Washington Bus Stop-Defendant Chased After Woman, Brandishing a Butcher Knife-

WASHINGTON – Malika Fateen, 31, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to a five-year prison term for an unprovoked attack in which she went after a woman with a butcher knife at a bus stop, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.

Fateen was found guilty by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in November 2013 of charges of assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a dangerous weapon. She was sentenced on Feb. 27, 2014, by the Honorable William M. Jackson. Upon completion of her prison term, Fateen is to be placed on three years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, on Oct. 17, 2011, at about 7 p.m., Fateen sat down beside the victim, a stranger, on a bench at a bus stop at 14th and Underwood Streets NW. Fateen was dressed in a purple medieval costume, including a cap. The victim had earlier placed a large cardboard box down on the same bench. Fateen verbally threatened the victim and then brandished the large butcher knife, stabbing the box. She then stood up and chased the victim as she ran into the street, with the knife raised above her head and pointed at the woman. The victim flagged down a passing taxicab, and rode to a nearby neighborhood, where she called police.

The case marked Fateen’s third conviction for violent offenses.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case for the Metro Transit Police and the Metropolitan Police Department. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, Paralegal Specialist Todd McClelland, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Rubenstein, who provided assistance at trial. Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott E. Ray, who prosecuted the case.